Five Things To Tell You… | May 18th, 2020

Welcome to my new blog series, Five Things To Tell You... In addition to my Currently Loving posts, I wanted another way to share random info and updates, so if this is your thing too, you’re welcome! 😉

One: The Little Things

While many things have changed, some have stayed the same, including the beginning of Vermont’s creemee season. Like many local businesses, local creemee stands have pivoted to make sure that they can offer their products in a safe way and we have been making the rounds. We were there for Cookie Love’s opening day, which is an annual tradition for our family.

I have also been working on noticing the things that have changed but in a positive way. One of them has been my new appreciation of the much quieter dirt roads all around us. We have been pounding the gravel on a daily basis, and it has been EVERYTHING for my mental and physical health. With the lack of car traffic, we have been encouraging the boys to bike along with us.

We have also had fun exploring some of the local trails around us (and Raven’s Ridge is open again to visitors and was amazing!!)

With this came a need for some new sneakers (my old ones had seen better days…) I took advantage of the curbside shopping at our local Danform Shoes and I could not have had a better shoe shopping experience. (THIS is the hand sanitizer I keep in my car and it the best and doesn’t dry your hands out!)

Anyway, back to the shoes…I shared what I was looking for (supportive walking shoes for my feet that lost their arches after pregnancy) with a salesperson on the phone and then he met with outside with some options. Paired with my Bombas socks and my feet are feeling happy again!

Two: At-Home Coffee

I am also proud to say that I think I have officially kicked my to-go coffee habit! It obviously helped that it wasn’t an option for over two months but now that things are slowly opening up, I am realizing how much certain things I did were more of a habit (like grabbing one when grocery shopping on Sundays…)

I also think that having the ability to make drinks at home that taste even better probably helps! I have this Nespresso (it is currently $40 off) and this frother.

Three: Character-Driven Fiction Audiobooks

Since mid-March, my reading tastes have skewed heavily towards lighter fiction or suspense and thrill. Little Secrets is one of my favorites 2020 thrillers and I can’t’ wait for the July release of The Night Swim which was another 5-star read for me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
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The Happy Ever After Playlist, Big Summer, and The Dilemma were the perfect weekend reads and I am so excited that another Mary Alice Monroe Beach House series book, On Ocean Boulevard, will be released this week!

More recently I have gotten back into more character-driven books on audio and so far I have had a great run! I am almost finished with Hidden Valley Road on LibroFM and wow, what a powerful and heartwrenching story.

It is an incredible balance of one family’s contributions to the treatment and understanding of schizophrenia, while also sharing the impact it had on this family in a compassionate manner.

The heartrending story of a midcentury American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science’s great hope in the quest to understand the disease.

Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don’s work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins–aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony–and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys, one after another, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen to one family?

What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institute of Mental Health. Their story offers a shadow history of the science of schizophrenia, from the era of institutionalization, lobotomy, and the schizophrenogenic mother to the search for genetic markers for the disease, always amid profound disagreements about the nature of the illness itself. And unbeknownst to the Galvins, samples of their DNA informed decades of genetic research that continues today, offering paths to treatment, prediction, and even eradication of the disease for future generations.

With clarity and compassion, bestselling, and award-winning author, Robert Kolker uncovers one family’s unforgettable legacy of suffering, love, and hope.

(You can get THREE Books for the Price of ONE and help support local bookstores using my referral link and promo code: SWITCH for LibroFM HERE.)

Four: At Home Beauty Products

Who else has been embracing at-home beauty products? I am not taking any drastic measures but it has been fun to try some new products over the last few months. And how perfect is this No Haircut Cream?! L’Oreal couldn’t have known how apropos it would end up being, ha!

I have been air drying my hair lately and this cream has been the perfect addition to combat frizz and helps me embrace my natural waves and the price point is amazing!

Our salons are not open yet but I do look forward to visiting my amazing hairdresser when the time comes…I have NO plans of cutting my own hair, LOL.

It has joined my daily routine with my other go-to items. Once I find something I love I am committed, and these are just some of my regulars…

I am in love with this first aid kiss nail strengther. I keep my nails clean and short and I love the sheen this provides while also helping strengthen my nails. While I don’t normally do much with my fingernails, I am a dedicated 1x a month pedicure person and I have missed it but am in NO rush to go back.

I have never mastered the skill of painting my own toenails but now that spring is in the air, I decided to give it a go. I chose these more neutral colors because they are much more forgiving in the sloppiness department and they are great!

Five: The Finish Line

Remote learning has been a roller coaster ride and today marks 4 weeks left until we are DONE for summer (let’s not talk about how the Fall might look very similar..) The boys have been quite resilient but it hasn’t been without drama or tears, from all parties involved (this lovely artwork was left at my desk last week, EEK)

I was walking and talking with two of my friends yesterday and we are certainly not alone in our struggles. I have been so grateful for the support our school has provided and I certainly have taken full advantage of it (the teachers have seen my face quite frequently in the parent support hangouts, LOL) and that I have friends who are open and honest about the ups and downs of parenthood.

Alright, that’s it for me this morning! I hope your Monday is off to a good start and I will be back soon to catch up on some of my recent book reviews!

Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. I am not affiliated with any of the local small businesses I share about here, I just love them!

I so appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts or feedback below! Please email me at genthebookworm@gmail.com to connect further. Cancel reply

I’m Genevieve and I am an avid reader, photographer, wife, and mom. I live in Vermont and I have been a lifelong book lover. It brings me joy to connect with other book enthusiasts and Gen The Bookworm is my space to share about books and more.

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